Joss Carter
}} (son) Paul Carter (ex-husband) | associates = Lionel Fusco John Reese Harold Finch Sameen Shaw | residence = New York, NY, USA | playedby = Taraji P. Henson | portrayer2 = | first = | last = (Flashback) | flashback = | gallery = Joss Carter }} Detective Jocelyn "Joss" Carter is a New York Police Department homicide detective who, after crossing paths with John Reese, tried to track him down. However, after being saved by Reese, she gradually decided to become an invaluable asset to Reese and his employer, Harold Finch. She was a single mother of one son, Taylor, to whom she was very close. Biography 2002–2004 Carter served in the United States Army as a Warrant Officer, first at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan (from February 2, 2002 until February 2, 2003), and was then relocated to Iraq, where she served at Camp Liberty in Baghdad from January 20, 2003 until March 20, 2004, serving as an Army Human Intelligence Collector and top interrogator. She received a Purple Heart in March 2004. 2005 Carter's ex-husband Paul returned to New York City after 2 years of disappearance following his post-traumatic stress disorder that he refused to get treatment for, causing Joss to leave him. Joss, who was still a rookie officer at the time, went to Paul to talk. They briefly argued, and Joss told Paul that she wouldn't let him see their son, Taylor, unless he sought counseling. Later that year, Paul entered Joss' house unannounced to see Taylor. The two argued again, and Paul smashed a lamp in anger, causing Joss to reach for her sidearm. She ordered Paul to leave the house and did not see him again for three years. 2008 Carter, now a detective, saw Paul again outside her precinct. Paul told Joss that he was now seeking counseling, showing her his VA card, and gave her his number in case she needed any help. 2011 Following an attack on John Reese on the subway by and his gang, Carter questioned Reese and, following his refusal to cooperate or give information about his background, collected his fingerprints from the cup he drank from. After analyzing his prints, and discovering his prints were found in six different crime scenes, Carter returned for further questioning, only to discover Reese was released by his attorney. The second arrest of Anton, along with in a shooting during a weapons deal, made Carter realize that they were defeated, yet again, by the same man. Later on, while arresting a corrupt police officer, he claimed to Carter that he and his accomplices were captured by a man in a suit. Unknown to Carter, Reese was mere feet away from her. A few days later, at a shooting crime scene, Carter was informed of the shooter being a man, which she assumed was "in a suit." Carter later began working with Lionel Fusco after Reese blackmailed their corrupt captain into transferring him into the 8th Precint Homicide Task Force. Carter's main objective was to track down and apprehend Reese. Even though she was hunting him, he still saved her life when her number came up. She was grateful, but still didn't understand his motives or M.O. She later helped agent Mark Snow of the CIA (Reese's former boss) to track down Reese, but she didn't know that Snow wanted to kill Reese; she only thought he wanted to question him. After learning she was wrong, she helped a wounded Reese escape to safety. 2012 While following Reese and trying to avoid help from the CIA, Carter met with Harold Finch, who explained to her how they stop crimes before happening, and directed her towards a man who was about to kill someone. She arrested the man, and Finch called her to inform her that that is what they do. Carter also formally met with Reese for the first time at a diner, and helped him save their most recent number. Carter began to work alongside Reese and Finch, even though she was unsatisfied with the lack of information they gave her, and she disapproved of their methods. Carter tried to sever ties with Reese after he was forced to cut a deal with Carl Elias to save an infant's life by giving up the address of a safe house of someone Elias was trying to kill and Carter was trying to protect. However, Carter's son was later taken hostage by Elias and Reese was the only one who could get him back. Carter got back on board with Reese and Finch and did whatever she could to help them. Carter later worked alongside Agent Nicholas Donnelly and the FBI while they tried to track down Reese. She put the pieces together and realized that Reese was once involved with Jessica Arndt. She obtained Reese's military file and reviewed it; she later shredded the file, keeping only the picture of Jessica and Reese that she found in Jessica's belongings. Carter was sidetracked by the FBI again just as she was leaving to go help Reese escape from a hotel that was being closed in on. She had to stay at the police headquarters watching as the FBI tried to catch Reese. HR was working simultaneously to find and kill the POI that Reese was trying to protect. Carter sent Reese a series of text messages, saving him from being captured or killed as he tried to find an escape route out of the hotel. Later on, Carter confronted Fusco, thinking that he was helping HR kill Reese, only to be told that he was working for "the Man in the Suit". Carter realized that Fusco was working for Reese and Finch and began assisting him while he helped them. In the FBI search for the Man in the Suit, Donnelly offered Carter a temporary assignment to the FBI task force hoping that she would help catching Reese. Carter accepted the offer but still continued to assist Finch and Reese. She and Finch worked together to get Reese out of jail, but Donnelly caught Reese and Carter and prepared to take them to a safe house. They were intercepted by Reese's former CIA handler Kara Stanton, who killed Donnelly and kidnapped Reese. 2013 After Donnelly's death, SAIC Brian Moss of the FBI looked over some files and found Donnelly's recommendation for Carter to join the FBI, and she took a polygraph test, which she passed. She was eventually turned down because of her relationship with Cal Beecher, who was under investigation by the NYPD's Internal Affairs. After Detective Bill Szymanski was framed by HR and later killed , Carter grew increasingly suspicious of Beecher, as he got a false tip about dirty money in Szymanski's possession. She realized that Beecher was played by HR after Fusco recorded a conversation between Beecher and Elias, revealing this information. HR found out about Beecher's meeting, and had him killed. Carter arrived too late and was devastated to find Beecher dead. Carter used Bear to locate and remove the buried body of James Stills from its location in Oyster Bay before the IAB could find it, which would have led to Fusco's arrest for murder and other charges from his past life as a criminal. Carter was later framed by HR for shooting an allegedly unarmed criminal. Due to this incident, she was demoted down to a patrol officer. After longtime associate Raymond Terney revealed his true colors to her, Carter saved Elias from being assassinated by Terney and Russian mob leader Peter Yogorov , and then arranged for him to enter into hiding at a secure basement. She did not inform Finch or Reese of the arrangements she had made for Elias' living arrangements. Carter undertook a personal vendetta against HR after Beecher's death and had created an organizational chart of HR's structure, which she hid in a closet in her apartment. Carter was assigned a new rookie officer named Mike Laskey, who she was initially reluctant to work with, but warmed up to him later on. . ]] On request from Laskey, Carter met with him at a bar to discuss a problem he was having with someone in the workforce. Laskey said that that person was Carter, and asked about "the Man in the Suit". Carter revealed to Laskey that she knew about his activities with HR, and that the bartender was a corrupt lieutenant working as backup to Laskey. She killed the bartender with a gun that Laskey purchased from New Jersey, and told him that he worked for her now. Carter had Laskey call in sick to spy on HR officer Patrick Simmons and photograph everyone he met with. Laskey later showed Carter the pictures at his apartment, when Detective Terney came in with a gun. Terney killed Laskey, and Carter shot Terney almost instantly afterwards. She begged a dying Terney to tell her if the head of HR was in one of Laskey's pictures, and Terney placed his bloodstained finger on the image of Alonzo Quinn before dying. With Quinn exposed, Carter became more determined than ever to bring down HR for good, and took measures that grew increasingly objectionable to Reese and Finch. With help from Sameen Shaw, she intercepted a drug delivery carried out by the Russian mob, causing the Russians to blame HR for it. Carter then used a sniper rifle to fire at Quinn while he was at his office, causing HR to suspect the Russians, and sparking a war between the two crime organizations. Carter then took the leader of the Russian mob, Peter Yogorov, into custody and obtained an arrest warrant for Quinn. Though she was eventually captured and held at gunpoint by Quinn's men, Reese saved her and Carter was able to apprehend the head of HR. Carter, planning to take Quinn to a federal building, went with Reese while evading thugs, as HR put a bounty on Reese's head. They escaped an area being patrolled by HR and went to a morgue, where they kept Quinn sedated while the two talked about their past lives and shared a kiss. Reese took down two HR cops who were after him and helped Carter escape the building, but was arrested by two honest cops. Carter took Quinn to the federal building, where he was arrested and awaiting trial. Carter was promoted back to a detective, and Finch came to congratulate her. She told him that she figured he built "a super-computer" that tells him when a crime is about to happen, by which Finch was impressed. Carter met with Reese in the same room they were in during their first time meeting each other , quoting their words during that time, and Carter got Reese out of the precinct. With 98% of HR down, Carter told Reese that Simmons was the last one remaining, right when Simmons showed up and shot them both as Carter shot him back. Reese embraced a dying Carter while Finch watched in horror, and Carter told Reese to keep Taylor safe before dying and her last words, to Reese, were "Don't let this change you." Carter was buried with full police honors, including a seven-gun salute. Her funeral service was well attended with Paul and Taylor sitting in front, where Taylor was presented the flag from her coffin. Fusco sat off to the side, bruised and angry while Finch and Shaw stood quietly, well away from the group, with Finch's face reflecting the pain he felt. Carter's death prompted Reese to go on a vengeful hunt for Simmons. Character Notes *At the time of the pilot, Carter had 37 opens cases and 14 active cases. *One of Carter's open cases was a cold case from 1960. (Rosenstock) *Carter's phone number was (212) 555-0487. *Carter's sidearm was a Glock 26 in Season 1 before switching to a Glock 19. She kept the Glock 26 as a backup gun. *Carter's smartphone was the HTC Desire HD and later in season 2 the HTC Evo 4G LTE. *Carter's New York State Driver's License number was 119-49305. *Carter's home address was 3001 E 5th Street, Apt 2A, NY, NY 10003. *The neighborhood crime index at Carter's address is 3.3. *Carter studied at Milton University. *Carter applied to the NYPD Police Academy on December 10, 2004 Name. *When Finch is in Carter's car, a picture falls. It shows a man in uniform (possibly her husband and the father of her son). These are the awards and decorations visible on his uniform in order of precedence: Combat Infantryman Badge : 1st row ; Achievement Medal, National Defence Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon. *Carter displayed an NYPD Unit Citation ribbon above her badge after she was demoted to patrol officer. Trivia *Carter appeared in every episode from her introduction in until her death in . *Her shield number is 55432. * Carter is the only non-hostile character to deduce the existence of the machine based on Finch and Reese's activities. After she talks to Finch to confirm her suspicion, The Machine changed her box from white to yellow. * She is also one of four people whose number has come up more than once since the show began. * Carter appears in Reese's hallucinations, when he is shot by Gil and in a flashback during an earlier stake-out that forms part of his hallucinations. * In the simulation where the Machine was not created, Carter managed to lock down high-ranking HR members (including Quinn, Simmons, Stills and Terney). As a result, she was promoted and became a lieutenant. The Decision to Kill Carter In an Entertainment Weekly interview with Producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman, Nolan said, "We felt from the beginning that this is where we’d want to go with Carter by the third season. Real characters have real journeys, and that means that requires an end. We’ve consistently had these midseason moments where we put our characters in jeopardy, but if we did another one of those and it wasn't the real thing, you get to a point where the audience is starting to get turned down on us." es:Joss Carter Carter Carter Carter Carter Carter Category:Police Category:Female Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Characters with Yellow Box Category:Crime Victims Category:Killed by Patrick Simmons